Feed intake cup apparatus

ABSTRACT

A feed intake cup (14) is for use in a poultry feeding system (10) for transferring feed from a feed intake hopper (12) to a conveyor by which the feed is delivered to feed stations (22) spaced along the conveyor. A cup housing (24) has an inlet (I) and an outlet (O). The inlet is connected to the feed intake hopper for feed to flow from the hopper into the housing. A feed convey (16) is connected to the housing outlet. Feed flows through the housing and into the conveyor through the outlet. A feed transport auger (18) is positioned in the conveyor. The auger is movable through the conveyor to convey feed to the feeding stations. A ball (144) with extension (164), gear (58), or a multiple diameter tube (300), a combination of these elements, may be positioned in the housing and is cooperable with the auger moves to agitate or churn the feed as the auger moves feed through the conveyor. The ball and its extensions is bounced by the auger to cause the agitation; while, the gear is used to regulate the amount of feed in the auger conveyor and thus helps the feed to flow and to prevent jamming. The multiple diameter tube strips compacted feed from the auger as the later enters the intake cup thus loosening the compacted feed and re-fills the auger with loose, fresh feed. Additionally, the ball may have an attached rod (164) and a chain (168) to produce a flailing action which further promotes flow of feed from a feed source through the cup.

This is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/005,905 filedJan. 15, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,619, issued Aug. 9, 1994.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to animal or poultry feeding systems in which apulverant, fluent feed is conveyed to a series of feeding stations whereit is dispensed for chickens (or other animals or birds) to eat, and,more particularly, to a feed intake unit to which the feedstock isdelivered and from which it is conveyed.

Poultry feeding systems are well-known in the art. See, for example,U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,850,307; 4,460,230; 4,003,339; 3,971,340; 3,598,087;3,415,228; and 3,230,933. As shown in these representative patents,feedstock from a bulk feed tank or the like is delivered to an intakecup or hopper. From the hopper, the feed is delivered to a conveyorwhich services a number of feeding stations. In large poultry houses,one of these conveyors may have a length of up to 400 feet and there maybe 200-300 or so of the feeding stations. The feed is conveyed, usuallyby means of an auger received in a feed conveyor tube extending througheach of the feed stations. The auger may either be rotary driven oraxially propelled within the tube to convey the feed from the intake cupand from feeder to feeder. Feed is deposited from the conveyor into feedpans of the feeders located at each station for subsequent consumptionby the birds.

It is a problem with present feeding systems that they can becomeoverloaded and jammed up with feed. This situation is likely to occur,for example, when the feeders are full. Then a substantial amount offeed is retained in the conveyor loop. At the same time, additional feedis being dispensed from the hopper into the conveyor. When that happens,the pressures created compact the feed in the conveyor loop until allvoid spaces are filled or packed. The resultant pressures eventuallycause the auger to jam and stop moving. For example, in certain of theprior art feeding systems (such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,307), itis a feature of these systems that voids are intentionally formedbetween the flights of the auger within the conveyor tube through theuse of baffles within the intake cup so as to restrict the flow of feedto the auger. However, it has been found that if no feed is beingdispensed to the feed stations and as the conveyor is run continuously,these voids tend to become overfilled as more feed is delivered to theauger. The feed at the inlet to the conveyor is also compacted, as isthe feed above it. In this latter regard, even if the feed at the inletto the conveyor is broken up, the compacted feed above it may create asolid bridge preventing any feed from reaching the conveyor from thehopper.

If the further delivery of feed to the conveyor system ultimately jamsthe auger, the conveyor feed tube must be disassembled, the compactedfeed cleaned out, and everything then reassembled. The feed intake tothe conveyor must also be cleaned out to break up deposits of compactedfeed. This is not only a time consuming and expensive process, but itmeans the poultry is either not fed, or must be fed by hand or in someother manner during the down time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Among the several objects of the present invention may be noted theprovision of a feed intake cup for use in a poultry feeder system;

The provision of such an intake cup for delivering feed from a hopper orthe like to a conveyor by which the feed is conveyed to a plurality offeeding sites serviced by the conveyor;

The provision of such a conveyor system to use an auger for moving thefeed between the intake and the stations;

The provision of an intake cup for delivering feed to the conveyor, theintake including mechanisms for preventing overfilling with subsequentcompaction of the feed line and consequent jamming of the system;

The provision of such mechanisms to simply and easily prevent compactionof feed;

The provision of such a mechanism to act cooperatively with the auger asit moves through the cup to vibrate, shake, agitate, stir, churn, flail,or otherwise jostle the feed in the cup and the conveyor as the augermoves, so as to prevent the feed from compacting within the cup;

The provision of such a mechanism to not damage the cup or auger orotherwise interfere with the delivery of feed;

The provision of such a mechanism to also regulate the feed level and topositively displace feed from the auger if it is full thereby to reducethe possibility of a jam;

The provision of such an intake cup which permits the auger to be drivenwithout undue packing of the feed in the conveyor once the feed stationsare filled thereby to insure, upon startup of the conveyor, that feed isdelivered substantially simultaneously to all of the feed stations;

The provision of such an intake cup having an associated dual diametertube through which the auger is driven, the tube design preventingexcess feed from over filling the auger or conveyor;

The provision of such a dual diameter tube that serves to regulate thefeed with no moving parts;

The provision of such an intake cup in which the mechanism for producingthe agitation, stirring, or jostling is readily installed; and,

The provision of such an intake cup which is usable with existing feedconveyor systems.

In accordance with the invention, generally stated, a feed intake cup isfor use in a poultry feeding system for transferring feed from a feedintake hopper to a conveyor by which the feed is delivered to feedstations spaced along the conveyor. A housing has an inlet and anoutlet. The inlet is connected to the feed intake hopper for feed toflow from the hopper into the housing. A feed conveyor tube is connectedto the housing outlet. Feed flows through the housing and into theconveyor through the outlet. A feed transport auger is positioned in theconveyor. The auger is movable through a dual diameter tube whichscrapes excess feed off the auger and helps regulate flow of feed intothe conveyor. An agitator (e.g., either a ball or gear) is positioned inthe housing both are movable by the auger, as it moves, to agitate thefeed as the auger moves the feed through the conveyor. The ball agitatoris repeatedly moved (bounced) by the auger to churn the feed; while thegear agitator is used to rotate paddles located in the cup to produce astirring action that helps the feed to flow. Additionally, an extensionrod or chain may be attached to the ball so as to stir the feed at alocation remote from the auger which further promotes flow of feed tothe cup. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in partpointed out hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a representation of a portion of a poultry feed deliverysystem with which the intake cup of the present invention is used;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the cup with a paddle or stirring assemblyused in a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3A is a sectional view of the cup taken along line 3--3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3B is a sectional view of another embodiment of the cup of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3C is a view (see sheet 7) on an enlarged scale taken along line3C--3C of FIG. 3B illustrating a gear having teeth bent out of the planeof the gear with the gear driven by the conveyor auger;

FIG. 3D is a view similar to FIG. 3C wherein the gear teeth haveenlarged end portions interengageable with the flights of the auger soas to aid in the breaking up of compacted feed between the flights;

FIG. 3E is a view taken along line 3E--3E of FIG. 3C illustrating inplan manner in which the bent gear teeth mesh with the auger to dislodgecompacted feed and to regulate the amount of feed;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the cup with a ball installed in the cupand used in a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5A is a sectional view of the cup taken along line 5--5 in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 5B and 5C illustrate additional ball configurations for the secondembodiment;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are, respectively, a perspective view of the ball (FIG.6A) and a combined ball and agitator rod (FIG. 6B);

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the cup of FIG. 4 with portions of the ballbroken away a frame installed in the housing of the cup for holding theball agitator in a desired position with respect to the auger;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of one side member of the frame;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the cup housing with a multiple diameterregulator tube of the invention installed;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the tube;

FIG. 11 is a top view of the tube; and

FIG. 12 is a side view of a second embodiment of the tube;

FIG. 13 is a side elevational view of the lower portion of an intakefeed cup of the present invention incorporating the regulator tube ofFIGS. 9-12 illustrating the conveyor tube having a flared bell endadapted to be received on an inlet tube and on an outlet tube of theintake housing;

FIG. 13A-13F illustrate the various diameters of the agitator tube andtheir relation to the diameter of the conveyor tube and the auger so asto loosen compacted feed, to supply fresh feed, and to form a void(regulate) in the conveyor tube to prevent over filling;

FIG. 14 is a semi-diagrammatic view of a feed delivery and feeder systemusing multiple conveyor drives and multiple feed intake cups of thepresent invention;

FIG. 15 is a view of a bulk feed tank which supplies feed to the intakefeed cup of FIG. 1 with the bulk feed tank having an outlet boot at thebottom thereof with a rotary driven auger within the boot and with anagitator in the boot similar to the agitator disclosed above in regardto FIGS. 4-8; and

FIG. 16 is an enlarged view taken on line 16--16 of FIG. 15 illustratinga ball agitator/rod for breaking up compacted feed within the outlet orboot portions of the bulk feed tank.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding partsthroughout the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, a poultry feeding system is indicatedgenerally 10 in FIGS. 1 and 14. System 10 includes a hopper 12 intowhich feed is received from a bulk feed tank BFT or the like (see FIG.15). From hopper 12, the feed gravitates (falls) into an intake orhopper unloader cup 14 which comprises the present invention and whichis described in detail hereinafter. From cup 14, the feed enters aconveyor 16. The latter includes a conveyor tube 17 in which an auger 18is located. Preferably, auger 18 is a centerless auger having theappearance of a stretched out coil spring. Auger 18 driven by a drivemechanism 20 to cause the feed to be transferred by conveyor 16 to oneor more feed stations 22. Auger 18 may be rotatably or linearly drivenby the drive mechanism. Auger 18 may be linearly propelled through tube17 by means of a drive gear having gear teeth in mesh with the flight ofthe auger. Such a drive is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,230.Alternatively, the auger maybe rotary driven within the conveyor tubesuch that the auger acts like a screw to convey the feed through theconveyor tube. Still other well-known feed conveyors (e.g., a chainconveyor) may be used. As shown in FIG. 14, when auger 19 is linearlypropelled, conveyor 16 may be an endless closed track system in whichthe conveyor 16 is arranged in a closed loop configuration around thepoultry house. As shown in FIG. 14, additional drive mechanisms 20 andadditional intake feed cups 14 may be located along the loop tofacilitate movement of feed to the various feeders 22.

In delivering feed to feeders 22, one problem which is encountered isfeed compaction. Compaction is usually caused by an over abundance offeed being conveyed through the system. If, for example, feed currentlyin the conveyor is not deposited at a station because the feed alreadythere has not been consumed, excess feed in the conveyor will becirculated back to cup 14. At the same time, additional feed flows fromhopper 12 into cup 14 for entry into the conveyor. Since the flow offeed through the cup is by gravity, the feed will exert a substantialamount of "hydrostatic" pressure on the feed so as to pack even morefeed into the feed conveyor. And, since the excess feed in the conveyoris being constantly recirculated throughout the feed loop, rather thandeposited at the stations, it often becomes more and more compacteduntil jamming occurs. If the conveying system gets jammed, it must bedisassembled by removing the auger from the conveyor tube, the compactedfeed cleaned out, and the system then reassembled. This creates a timeconsuming and expensive delay especially considering the number of birdsfed by the system, and the amount of wasted feed which is created by thejam. Intake cup 14 of the present invention alleviates feed compaction,and thus eliminates the attendant time delay and cost.

In FIGS. 2 and 3A, a first embodiment of the intake cup is shown toinclude a housing 24. The housing has a generally rectangular upper end26 the-side walls 28 of which define a feed inlet I. Respective flanges30 are formed at the upper end of each side wall for attachment of theintake to the bottom or outlet end of hopper 12. It will be appreciatedthat feed may be supplied to cup 14 by means other than hopper 14. Forexample, feed may be supplied by means of a suitable drop tube (notshown). Side walls 28 of housing 24 also have a lower tapered section 32for the lower end of the housing to define an outlet O into which feedflows from the intake cup 14 into conveyor 16.

Feed conveyor 16 is connected to housing outlet O for the feed flowingthrough the housing to flow into the conveyor. The conveyor includesconveyor tube 17 having an inlet and at the outlet of the housing and aseries of spaced outlets 36, one at each feed station 22. The lower endof section 32 of housing 24 has a rounded semi-cylindrical base portion,as indicated at 38 in FIG. 3A. In addition to helping to define outlet Oof the intake cup, base portion 38 also provides a housing for auger 18.The auger moves rotatably in or linearly through base portion 38 ofhousing 24 for conveying feed falling from the hopper to be delivered tothe conveyor and to be distributed to the outlets 36. Alternately, andas described hereinafter, a multiple diameter tube 40, see FIGS. 9-11,may be installed through openings 42 in the lower sidewall of thehousing, and auger 18 is movable axially through this tube. The multiplediameter tube 40 serves to permit more feed from within housing 24 toenter the conveyor and also serves to prevent over filling and/or overcompaction of the feed in a manner as will appear.

Referring to FIG. 3A, an optional baffle 44 within housing 24 has oneend attached to a side wall 28 of the housing at the upper end of thehousing. Baffle 44 angles downwardly into the housing to form a chutefor the feed F delivered to cup 14 from the hopper. In addition tobaffle 44, a support plate 46 is also attached to a side wall 28 of thecup housing. The upper end of plate 46 is, as shown in FIG. 3A, attachedto the same side wall 28 as is the upper end of baffle 44, so the baffleand plate depend from the same side of the housing. Baffle 44 overhangsplate 46 minimize the effect of "hydrostatic" pressure of the feed inthe intake cup and hopper 12 from over compacting the feed. Or, as shownin FIG. 2, baffle 44 does not have to be used.

An agitator 48 is positioned in the tapered lower end of housing 24 soas to agitate the feed falling into the outlet of the intake cup. Bychurning or stirring the feed within housing 24, it will not be easilycompacted and therefore will not bridge within the housing and will thusflow continuously down toward the conveyor. Agitator 48 first includes apair of rotatable blades 50 and 52, respectively, commonly mounted forrotation on a shaft 54. The stirring blades are mounted on the shaft sothey are at a 90° angle to each other as shown in FIG. 2. Shaft 54extends through support plate 46 and is rotatably supported on the plate46 and on housing 24 by bearings 56. A gear 58 is fixedly mounted onshaft 54. The gear is located such that its teeth 60 extend into theoutlet portion 38 of the housing. The teeth mesh with flights 62 ofauger 18 (see FIG. 3C). Consequently, movement (either axially orrotary) of the auger turns the gear, and rotation of the gear causesrotation of the agitator blades 50, 52. This produces the stirringaction discussed above. In operation, upper blade 50 of the bladeassembly promotes flowability of feed from the hopper, and the lowerblade 52 provides agitation of the feed to keep it flowing into theoutlet. As gear teeth 60 move in and out of mesh with the flights 62 ofauger 18, the gear teeth move in toward the center of the auger and thusphysically break up compacted feed carried by the auger. Thus, the gearteeth tend to prevent over compaction, over filling, and jamming of theconveyor. Further, as excess, compacted feed is dislodged from the augerby the gear teeth, fresh feed is re-mixed therewith such that fresh,loose feed is conveyed from the feed cup to feeders 22.

It will be appreciated that teeth 60 of gear 58 may be enlarged and maybe of a bulbous shape so as to fit more closely between the flights 62of auger 18 thereby to aid in breaking out compacted feed within theauger and to insure proper conveyor filling and to reduce or minimizethe possibility of jamming the conveyor.

FIGS. 3B and 3C illustrate an alternate embodiment of agitator means 48from that shown in FIG. 3A. In FIG. 3B, a gear 58" (a third rotatablestirring blade) mounted on shaft 54. The teeth 66 of gear 58" are angledor bent with respect to the body of the gear for contact with flights 62of auger 18. Now, as the auger is moved, the bent gear teeth 66 areengaged by the moving auger 18 thus causing gear 58" to be rotated inthe appropriate direction producing, in turn, rotation of blades 50 and52. Blades 50 and 52 function as previously described. Bent gear 58"provides the additional feature of regulating feed level. This isimportant when, for example, the auger is completely filled with feed.Through use of bent gear 58", as the bent gear teeth 66 move down into,across, and up out of the space between the flights 62 of conveyor 18,so as to dig out compacted feed thus resulting in a positivedisplacement of excess feed. In FIG. 3C, the bent gear 58" is shown inside elevation and it can be seen that bent gear teeth 66 move down andinto the auger below the centerline thereof. Simultaneously, as shown inFIG. 3F, the teeth sweep horizontally across the auger. In this manner,compacted feed within the auger is positively broken up, dislodged andis physically discharged from the auger. This then allows the auger tomove through the unloader cup and into conveyor tube 17 not completelyfilled thereby minimizing the tendency to jam. As discussed above, it iswhen the auger is filled that jamming of the system is likely to occur.Also, fresh feed within the intake cup may be mixed with the dislodgedjammed feed.

As shown in FIG. 3b, a plate 47 is cantelevered from sheet 46 so as toextend above and along side a portion of auger 18 so as to prevent feeddislodged from the auger by gear teeth 66 from falling back into theauger. This aids in preventing jamming of the auger.

It will be understood that if gear 58" is moved toward or away from thecenter line of auger 18, the amount of feed positively dislodged fromthe auger may be regulated. More specifically, if gear 58" is moved intoward the centerline of the auger, teeth 66 will penetrate the auger toa greater extent and more feed will be displaced from between theflights.

It will be understood that while gear 58 is shown to be formed ofrelatively heavy sheet metal with gear teeth 66 bent therefrom, gear 58"may be molded from a suitable plastic. If gear 58" is molded of plastic,it may be desirable that the planar body of the gear be of a thicknesscorresponding generally to the thickness that its gear teeth 66 are"bent" out of the plane of the gear body. In other words, if the bentteeth 66 are bent out of the plane of the gear body 5/8 inch, the moldedgear may have a thickness of 5/8 inches.

It will be appreciated that with the gear agitators 58 and 58" describedabove in regard to FIGS. 3A and 3B, auger 18 may either be linearlydriven in tube 17 by a gear drive system as described in the above-notedU.S. Pat. No. 4,460,230, or may be rotary driven.

It will be appreciated that due to the construction of the intake cup 14of the present invention and the operation of gears 58 or 58", the feedconveyor may be operated without jamming after all of the feed stations22 have been completely filled. This insures that conveyor tube 17 ischarged with feed between each of the feeders 22. Thus, upon startup ofthe conveyor system, feed is delivered simultaneously to all of thefeeders thereby preventing the birds in a poultry house from beingattracted to only a few of the first feeding stations to receive freshfeed.

Referring now to FIGS. 4-6, a second and gearless embodiment of the feedintake cup and agitator is indicated generally 114. As before, cup 114transfers or unloads feed from hopper 12 to conveyor 16 so the feed canbe delivered to the feed stations 22. Cup 114 includes a housing 124having an inlet I' which is connected to the outlet of hopper 12 forfeed to flow into the housing through the inlet. Housing 124 has anupper rectangular shaped section 126 comprised of side walls 128. Theupper end of the side walls define housing intake I'. The lower reachesof the side walls are angled to form a second and generally taperedsection 132 for flowing the feed into housing outlet O'. As shown inFIGS. 4 and 5, bolts (or rods) B1 and B2 extend transversely of thecenterline of the outlet across the housing. The bolts are locatedadjacent the respective end walls of the housing. The bolts are securedto the housing by nuts N. It will be noted that the bolts also act tostir the feed since the feed flowing into the outlet end of the housingmust divert itself around the bolts, and then recombine.

The feed conveyor is connected to outlet O' for feed flowing through thehousing to flow into the conveyor. The conveyor includes a hollow tubedefined by a rounded section 138 of the housing walls formed at thelower end of the housing. Auger 18 is located in this tube-for movementas previously described. Like cup 14, cup 114 includes an agitationmeans 140 positioned in the housing and movable by auger 18. As with theagitator paddles or blades 50, 52, means 140 agitates the feed toprevent the aforementioned compaction problem within housing 124.Agitation means 140 includes an agitator weight, preferably a ball 144,installed in the housing. The ball is sized to fit in outlet O', and asbest seen in FIGS. 5A-5C, rests upon the upper portion of auger flights62. The diameter of the ball is greater than the spacing of the flightsof the auger. Consequently, ball 144 is caused to rotate and to move upand down (bounce) by movement of the flights 62 as auger 18 is propelledeither linearly or rotatably. It will be understood that while linearmovement of auger 18 is preferred, agitator 140 will work with rotarydriven augers as well. Ball 144 is a relatively heavy metal ball so thatit will bear against the flights of the auger and to be bounced up anddown as the auger moves. As shown in FIG. 6A, the ball may be hollow andhas an opening 146 formed in it. A hollow ball imposes less weight onthe housing than a solid ball so the housing walls do not have to bereinforced and prevents undue compaction of the feed due to the weightof the ball.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, cup 114 further includes a frame 148mountable in housing 124 for limiting movement of the ball so that theball does not become dislodged from the auger. Frame 148 includes sidepieces 150 which are connected together by bolts 152. The bolts areinserted through openings 154 in the side pieces and the bolts aresecured to the side pieces by nuts 156 attached to each end of thebolts. As seen in FIG. 7, frame 148, when installed in the housing ispositioned such that the spacing between the bolts somewhat greater thanthe diameter of the ball. This holds the ball captive and keeps the ballgenerally in register with the auger flights, and allows the ball tofreely contact the auger flights. As shown in FIG. 8, the side pieces150 each have an upper main body portion 158 in which the spacedopenings 154 are formed. A pair of legs 160 depend from the sides of themain body. The legs are spaced apart such that when the frame ispositioned in the housing, the base of the legs rest upon thetransversely extending bolts B1, B2. The main body portion of the sidepieces then keep the ball from being rolled up the tapering side wallsof the housing. Finally, sleeves 162 can be fitted over the bolts 152 asshown for the lefthand bolt in FIG. 7. Each sleeve is of a plasticmaterial which not only protects the bolts from damage by contact withthe ball; but also, prevents any moisture in the feed from contactingthe bolt and causing it to rust and prevent the feed from sticking tothe bolts.

Referring to FIG. 5B, agitation means 140 is shown to include a ball144a. Unlike the ball 144 shown in FIG. 6A, ball 144a has an elongaterod 164 fixed to the ball and extending upwardly therefrom into theupper reaches of the intake cup 114 above auger 18. As the ball moves upand down due to movement of auger 18, the ball and the rod arerepeatedly move (oscillate) about and churn the feed falling into theoutlet portion of the cup. In addition, the upper end of the rod may beflattened, as indicated at 166. A chain may be attached to thisflattened end of the rod. The outer end of the chain is connected to asidewall of the housing, at the upper end of the housing by a crossbar170. Since the chain is connected to the free end of the rod, the chaintethers the rod in a generally desired vertical position, but allows theball and the rod to be moved freely by the auger. Further, the chainprovides a flailing action as this upper end of the rod moves around inthe housing. This provides a further stirring action to the feed. Inaddition, if the feed were to bridge over any portion of hopper 14 orintake cup 12 so that feed could not flow down into the outlet O, theflailing action of the rod or chain would readily breakup any suchbridging of the feed to reestablish the flow of feed.

While rod 164 is shown in FIG. 5B as being supported by a single chain168, it will be understood that multiple chains may be used or evenpreferred to maintain the rod in its desired upright position and tofurther agitate the feed.

As shown in FIG. 5C, the length of the rod can be longer than that shownin FIG. 5B. Here, a rod 164a is attached to ball 144a so as to extendwell up into hopper 114. A guide ring 172 is centrally positioned inthis upper end of the housing. The ring is located in place byrespective arms 174a, 174b. The upper end of rod 164a extends throughthe guide ring. Now, as ball 144a moves about, the upper end of the rodexecutes a swirling motion which is generally circular. The extent ofthis motion defined by the extent to which the upper end of the rodextends through the guide ring and the diameter of the guide ring. Inany event, the result is to provide a stirring motion for the feedflowing through the cup.

With the above described embodiments using the ball 144 or 144a (asshown in FIGS. 4-7), it will be understood that the ball could be ofdifferent diameters. The constraint is that the diameter be large enoughthat the ball not slip between adjacent flights 62 of auger 18 and blockits operation. On the other hand, the diameter cannot be so great thatan adequate continuous flow of feed into the outlet of the cup isprevented. Similarly, the length of rod 164 can be of any of a range oflengths. The constraint is that it cannot be so short as to allow itselfto fall between adjacent flights of the auger. Again, this would jam theauger.

While the balls 144, 144a are shown to be positioned above thecenterline of auger 18, it will be appreciated that in certain designsof the intake cup 114, the balls may be located off the verticalcenterline of the auger between about approximately the 10 O'clock or 2O'clock positions. It will be understood that if ball 144 is located offthe centerline of auger 18, the auger will impart not only verticalmovement to the ball, but the ball will also be rotated.

Referring now to FIG. 15, a bulk feed tank BFT is shown locatedproximate a poultry hose H in which feeding system 10 is installed.Typically, such bulk feed tanks (or other storage silos or bins) areused in conjunction with feeding system 10 to store large quantities offeed and to supply the intake feed cups 14 and 114 previously described.As shown, the bulk feed tank has a raised tank body 201 with adownwardly converging outlet section 203. At the bottom end of theoutlet section, an outlet boot 205 is provided for directing feed fromwithin the tank into a feed supply auger conveyor 207.

The feed supply auger conveyor 207 has a conveyor tube 209 in which arotary driven auger 211 is driven by a motor 213. The auger conveyorsupplies feed by means of drop tubes 215 to the intake cups 14 and 114located within the poultry house. A portion of the auger within boot 205is open to feed in the lower reaches of the outlet section 203.

As best shown in FIG. 16, a ball agitator 217 (similar to agitators 140previously described in regard to FIGS. 4-8) is provided within boot 205and outlet section 203 so as to agitate the feed therein and to insurethe free flow of feed to auger 211. More particularly, ball agitator 217comprises a ball weight 219 positioned within outlet boot 205 inposition to bear on the exposed section of auger 211 such that the ballweight will be bounced up and down and in other manners upon rotation ofthe auger by drive motor 213. The ball weight may be provided with a rodagitator 221 similar to rods 164 or 164a previously described, exceptthe agitator rod for a bulk feed tank may be considerably longer thanthe rods used in an intake cup application. For example, an agitator rodfor a bulk feed tank my be 6-10 feet long. Of course, the agitator rod221 may be guided by either a fixed ring collar 223 (similar to collar172) supported within outlet section 203 by arms 225, or by a tetherchain (not shown in FIG. 16) similar to chain 168 in the mannerheretofore described in regard to FIGS. 5B and 5C. Further, the agitatorrod 221 may optionally be provided with arms or pegs 227 which extendout from the rod at various positions therealong so as to engage and tostir more feed than an agitator rod without the arms could contact uponthe ball weight being moved (oscillated) by the auger.

As previously noted, rod 221 may be several feet long so as to extend aconsiderable distance above auger 211. As the rod 221 oscillates up anddown, compacted feed within outlet 203 is caused to fall downward aroundrod 221 toward the auger thus forming an inverted cone-shaped area ofloosened feed or, in some instances, an inverted cone-shaped opening.Continued up and down movement of rod 221 loosens the compacted feed allalong the length of the rod.

It will be appreciated that by using the ball agitator 217 and rod 221within a bulk feed tank, cumbersome unloading flails and other unloaderspreviously used with bulk feed tanks may be eliminated. Upon start up ofthe auger drive motor 213, ball agitator will automatically be operated.Alternatively, it will be appreciated that in some bulk feed tankapplications or the like, the ball agitator above described may employdrive other than an auger. For example, the ball agitator may be bouncedup and down or otherwise oscillated by means of a rotary driven cam orother oscillatory drive.

In conjunction with or separate from the use of ball agitator 217 inboot 205, a bent gear agitator (not shown in FIGS. 15 or 16) similar togear 58" described in conjunction with FIGS. 3B and 3C above may beemployed. More specifically, the bent gear teeth 66 of gear 58" areengaged by auger 211 such that rotation of the auger by drive motor 213causes the gear 58" to rotate. Thus the bent gear teeth 66 positivelydraw feed from boot 205 into the auger, and, if such auger becomesfilled with compacted feed, tends to dig out the compacted feed.

In addition to use of the gear driven agitators 48 in cup 14, or theagitator 142 of cup 114, the present invention may further beconstituted by multiple diameter agitator or regulator tube 300 (seeFIGS. 9-13) which is insertable through the outlet portion of housing 24or 124. Auger 18 extends through tube 300 and is movable therein,reciprocally or rotatably, to transport feed through conveyor 16. Asseen best in FIGS. 10 and 11, tube 300 has three sections, as indicatedat 302, 304, and 306, respectively, with a narrow cutout 308 being madebetween sections 302 and 304, and a substantially longer cutout 310between sections 304 and 306. As indicated in FIG. 10, tube 300 theauger enters the tube at its left hand end and exits from the right handend. Auger 18 may, for example, have an outer diameter of about 1.438inches (3.65 cm). Tube 300 has a uniform outer diameter A along itslength. This diameter may, for example, be 1.75 in. (4.45 cm.) and theradius 0.875 in. (2.22 cm). The wall thickness at the inlet end 302 ofthe tube is indicated B and is (for example) 0.035 in. (0.089 cm). Thismeans the inside diameter of the pipe, at its inlet end 302 is 1.68 in.(4.27 cm) which is considerably larger than the outer diameter of auger18. In addition, the distance from the lower outer wall of the tube tothe upper inner wall thereof, dimension C in FIG. 10, is 1.715 in. (4.36cm). As can be seen in FIG. 13, the inner diameter of the inlet section302 of tube 300 is approximately the same as the inner diameter ofconveyor tube 17. The later has a flared, bell end 17' sized to bereceived on the end of section 302 to connect the conveyor tube to tube300.

Tube 300 may, for example, have a length of about 12 in. (30.5 cm).Section 302 is 2.625 in. (6.67 cm) in length. Cut out section 308 is,for example, 1 in. (2.54 cm) in length. Approximately half way along thelength of section 308, or 3.125 in. (7.94 cm) from the inlet end of thetube, the wall thickness of the tube changes from the dimension B valueto the thicker wall thickness as indicated by dimension D. Thistransition in thickness is indicated at 312. The new wall thickness ofthe tube is, for example, 0.113 in. (0.29 cm), and is uniform throughoutthe remaining length of the tube.

Tube section 304 is also 1 in. (2.54 cm) in length and has the thickerwall. The inner diameter of the tube at intermediate uniform section 304is now reduced to 1.524 in. (3.87 cm), which is only somewhat greaterthan the 1.438 in. (3.65 cm) diameter of auger 18. It will beappreciated as auger 8 enters section 304, any excess compacted feedcarried on the outside of the auger 18 is physically stripped from theauger. In addition, the relatively close tolerance between the innerdiameter of stripping section 304 and auger 18 tends to guide the augeras the later passes through tube 300.

Cut out 310 extends for 4.75 in. (12.07 cm), for example. The wallthickness throughout this section is the thicker wall section. Lastly,section 306 is the same length as section 302. The wall thickness atthis outlet end of the pipe is the thicker wall thickness. Now, thedistance from the lower outer wall of the tube to the upper inner wall,dimension E in FIG. 10, is 1.638 in. (4.16 cm). These dimensions and thecorresponding cross sectional areas of the tube, the auger, and theamount of feed in the auger at various locations are shown in FIG. 13.

The construction of regulator tube 300, as above described, is designedto prevent feed compaction in auger 18. It will be noted that thetransition in the tube at 312 from a larger inner diameter to a smallerdiameter is located in the cutout section 308 of the tube. Since largerdiameter section 302 is at the inlet end of the tube, excess feed whichhas traveled around the conveyor loop with the auger is subject to astripping or scraping action as the auger enters intermediate section304 which is of the smaller diameter so as to scrape the excess feed offthe auger. The scraped off feed flows via discharge opening 308 backinto the cup. Fresh feed delivered through the cup to the outlet nowenters the tube through inlet cutout 310. The scraped off feed isstirred in the with new feed by either gear agitator 48 or by a ballagitator 140, as previously described. As the auger, with the excessfeed scraped off and with a full charge of loose, fresh feed from inletopening 310, enters the smaller diameter scraper section 306 and as theauger moves with the conveyor tube, the feed level within the conveyortube and excess feed is removed from the auger so as to regulate ormeter the amount of feed carried by the auger to a predetermined amount.As the auger enters the full diameter of the conveyor tube 17 which isof a larger cross section than regulator section 306, a void V (see FIG.13F) is formed in conveyor tube 17 thus insuring that the feed in theconveyor is not jammed and is free to flow into each of the feedingstations 22.

As a result, dual diameter regulator tube 300 performs the feedregulation and compacted feed dislodgment functions earlier describedand performed by the gear teeth 60 or 60' of gears 58, 58". Becausecompacted feed is scrapped from the auger by small diameter section 304,and because the scrapped off excess feed is returned to the interior ofthe intake cup, the regulator tube 300 functions like a stationaryagitator thus eliminating for the need for rotary gears and other movingparts. It will be understood that while discharge opening 308 and inletopening 310 are shown to be separate from one another, it has been foundthat a single opening may function as both the discharge and inletopening.

It will be appreciated that by changing the inner diameter of sections302 and 304 relative to the diameter of the auger 18, the amount of feedregulation effected by tube 300 may be varied.

With respect to FIG. 12, a tube 300a, is shown to be comprised of twotubes 314 and 316, respectively. Both tubes have identical outerdiameters corresponding to the diameter values noted above. Tube 314 hasa different inner diameter from that of tube 316. Again, these diametervalues correspond with those discussed for tube 300. The length of thetubes correspond to the respective lengths of the larger and smallerdiameter sections of the tube 300. Tubes 314 and 316 are connectedtogether, for example, by welding as indicated at 318. While tubes 314and 316 could be joined together to form the tube, a single tube may bepreferable for use in the conveying system. This is because a singletube is easier to align during installation, and does not require asmany welds to connect to the housing of cup 14 or 114, and the conveyortube 17.

Referring now to FIG. 13 and to FIGS. 13A-13F, multiple diameteragitator tube 300 is shown installed in an intake cup 114 (asillustrated in FIGS. 4-9). As shown, the ends 302 and 306 of theagitator tube extend from the outlet portion O' of the intake feed cup.These ends have an outer diameter somewhat less than the inner diameterof a flared bell end 17' of a conventional conveyor tube 17 such thatwith a flared end on the conveyor tube, the flared ends of the conveyortube may readily be installed on the protruding ends 302 and 306. Itwill be noted in FIG. 13 that the inner diameter of conveyor tube 17 andthe inner diameter of the ends 302 and 306 are approximately the same.As shown, auger 18 extends through the multiple diameter agitator tube300 and the auger is preferably linearly driven in the direction shownby the arrow in FIG. 13 such that end 302 constitutes and inlet end andsuch that end 306 constitutes an outlet end.

Referring to FIG. 14, a typical feed conveyor 16 is illustrated having alinearly propelled feed conveyor auger 18 driven by drive motors 20A or20B. The latter drive a coarse pitch gear which has teeth in mesh withthe flights 62 of auger 18 so as to linearly (axially) drive the augerthrough the conveyor tube 17. As shown, feed conveyor 16 is an endlessloop conveyor. In such conveyor systems, it is necessary to join theends of auger 18 together, as by brazing or by using a connector. Thiscreates a double thickness of the auger in the location of the joint. Ithas been found that as such continuous loop augers circulate feed in theconveyor after the feeders 22 have been filled, a so-called back laggingeffect may be encountered. Back lagging is a condition in which feedconveyed with the auger between adjacent flights is spilled over thetrailing flight into the space behind and in which feed from the spacebetween a pair of flights moves rearwardly through the center opening ofthe auger toward the trailing flights. Generally, such back lagging isuniform from flight to flight and does not present a problem (exceptthat the efficiency of the conveyor is diminished). However, in the areaof the joint between ends of the conveyor, a more serious problem isencountered.

More particularly, the double thickness of the joint between the ends ofauger 18 effectively prevents feed from flowing in a backward movementpast the joint. Further, the double thickness of the joint partiallyblocks the flow of feed through the center of the auger. As such, a voidwill form behind the joint and a solid slug of feed will buildup infront of the joint. With continued operation of the conveyor after thefeeders have been filled, and with additional feed being supplied to theauger from feed cups 14, the slug of compacted feed carried along withthe joint will grow (increase in length). 0f course, the more compactthe feed becomes in this slug and the longer the slug becomes, the morefriction it creates as it moves through conveyor tube 17 thus increasingthe amount of power required to drive the auger around the conveyorloop.

Referring to FIG. 14, a test conveyor loop CL is shown having a testlength of about 70 feet and a width of about 10 feet. The test loop hastwo auger drive motors, as shown at 20A and 20B, and a pair of intakefeed cups 14 of the present invention installed in the conveyor loop.The turns of the conveyor are shown to be 90 degree corners and areindicated at C. The conveyor loop CL has a conveyor tube 16 and an auger18, as previously described.

In a first test, the conveyor was driven only by drive motor 20A and wasoperated for about 15 minutes to with no feed in conveyor tube 17 andwith no feed in the feed cups 14 so as to establish a steady state noload condition. The current supplied to drive motor 20A was measured tobe 4.3 amps. Feed was then supplied to intake cups 14 so as to fill theconveyor and an excess supply of feed was maintained in each of the feedcups so as to continue to add feed to the conveyor. As the feed wasadded, the current required by drive motor 20A increased to 5.3 amps. Asthe filled conveyor continued to circulate for about 15 minutes, thecurrent required by the drive motor increased to 7.1 amps at which pointthe conveyor would jam and the drive motor would be unable to continueto drive the auger in the conveyor tube. Under such high loadconditions, even if the auger did not jam in the conveyor tube, if thedrive motor would be shut off, the auger could not be re-started.

In accordance with this invention, a re-leveling box 401 was placed inconveyor tube 17 upstream from drive motor 20A so as to breakup the slugof feed in the conveyor and to prevent jamming. More specifically,re-leveling box 401 comprises either a dual diameter metering tube 300or a gear 58 or 58" agitator and an accumulator supply hopper 403 withthe metering tube or the gear agitator positioned so as to positivelybreak up the slug of feed in the conveyor, to strip excess feed from theauger as the later passes through the re-leveling box, and to resupplythe stripped feed to feed voids in the auger as they present themselveswhile moving through the re-leveling box. More particularly, if meteringtube 300 is used, as the slug of compacted feed moves therethrough,excess feed is stripped from the auger by the stripping section 304 andthe stripped feed is directed into the hopper 403 via discharge passage308 to await the passage of a void in the auger. The feed in the hopper403 with then flow into the void via passage 310. In this manner, thecompacted slug of feed is broken up each time it passes through there-leveling box and the trailing void is refilled. In tests with thetest loop CL as above described, it has been found that with theconveyor filled with feed and with the intake cups constantly supplyingadditional feed to the conveyor, the conveyor would reach a steady stateconditions in which the drive motor 20A would draw only about 5.3 ampsand would maintain this even when the auger was continued to be drivenfor up to four hours with no increase in current to drive motor 20A.

If a bent gear 58" is used in place of the dual diameter tube 300 inre-leveling box 401, it will be understood that the gear is mounted inthe re-leveling box such that the gear is free to rotate with gear teethin mesh with the auger as it passes therethrough. Thus, teeth 66 tend todislodge compacted feed from between the flights 62 of the auger and toform a void in which fresh feed or dislodged feed may flow so as toprevent the buildup of a slug of feed which will result in jamming ofthe conveyor.

What has been described is an improved feed intake cup for use in apoultry feeder system by which feed is delivered from a hopper to a feedconveyor by which the feed is conveyed to a plurality of feeding sites.The conveyor system uses an auger for moving the feed and improvedintake cup prevents the auger being jammed. The intake cup, as describedabove, simply and easily prevents compaction of feed which wouldotherwise cause the jamming. It does this by jolting the auger as itmoves through the cup, or by turning a pair of paddles to agitate, byvibration of the auger or stirring of the feed, the feed delivered tothe auger. An important feature of the cup is the dual diameter tube inwhich the feed drive auger is positioned. By installing the tube so theauger is driven from the larger into the smaller diameter portion of thetube, excess feed can be removed from the conveyor rather than beingconstantly recirculated. This also helps prevent compaction of the feedand potential jamming. Additionally, the dual diameter regulating tubehas no moving parts and thus is simple to construct and to operate.

In view of the foregoing, it will be seen that the several objects ofthe invention are achieved and other advantageous results are obtained.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

What is claimed is:
 1. Feed intake apparatus for a livestock feedingsystem, said apparatus comprising a housing having a feed inlet whichreceives feed from a feed supply and a feed outlet, a feed conveyorextending from said housing for delivering feed to a desired appliancealong said feed conveyor, said feed conveyor comprising a conveyor tubewith a moveable feed auger housed therein, said feed auger being acenterless helical coil having a multiplicity of substantially equallyspaced flights for picking up feed from said intake apparatus and forconveying it through said conveyor tube, and an agitator comprising agear driven by said auger as the latter moves relative to said housing,said gear having teeth in mesh with the flights of said auger, saidteeth extending into the flights of said auger to approximately thecenterline thereof so as to at least in part dislodge compacted feedbetween the flights of said auger as said gear rotates within saidhousing and as said auger moves through said housing thereby to regulatethe amount of feed within said conveyor tube so as to insure that saidauger within said conveyor tube does not become over packed with feedand to prevent jamming or compaction of said conveyor even uponcontinued operation of said feed conveyor after all of said applianceshave been filled with feed.
 2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid gear is rotatably supported within said housing on a shaft, saidshaft being rotary driven by said gear, said shaft carrying stirringmeans positioned within said housing so as to stir the feed as it makesits way from said feed inlet to said feed outlet.
 3. Apparatus as setforth in claim 1 wherein said teeth are formed so as to be out of theplane of said gear such that the body of said gear may be positioned ina plane generally parallel to one of the walls of said housing above thelevel of a similar parallel plane containing the axis of rotation ofsaid auger such that said gear teeth extend generally vertically downinto the flights of said conveyor.
 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3wherein said gear teeth have enlarged outer ends thereon so as to aid indislodging compacted feed from between the flights of said auger. 5.Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further including an agitator weightwithin said feed inlet, said agitator weight being engageable by saidflights of said auger so as to move relative to said auger and todislodge and to break up compacted or bridging feed within said feedinlet thereby to insure the free flow of feed to said auger.
 6. Anagitator as set forth in claim 5 wherein said weight is a ball having adiameter larger than the spacing of the flights of said auger. 7.Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said agitator weight has meansattached thereto for breaking up bridging feed within said housingsubstantially above the level of said agitator weight.
 8. Apparatus asset forth in claim 7 wherein breaking means comprises a rod attached tosaid weight and extending up into said housing so as to oscillate withinsaid housing as the auger moves.
 9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8further comprising means engageable with said rod for maintaining saidrod in a desired operating position within said housing.
 10. Apparatusas set forth in claim 9 wherein said rod position maintaining meanscomprises a generally circular guide for receiving the upper end of saidrod and for permitting limited axial, oscillatory and rotary motion ofsaid rod with respect to said guide sufficient to effectively breakupcompacted feed within said housing between said feed inlet and said feedoutlet.
 11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10 wherein said rod positionmaintaining means comprises a length of flexible chain or the liketethering the upper end of said rod to said housing such that upon upand down and oscillatory movement of said rod with respect to saidhousing, said rod and said chain cooperate to break up compacted feedwithin said housing between said feed inlet and said feed outlet. 12.Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 further comprising means for holdingsaid agitator ball captive with respect to said auger but so as topermit said ball to moved by said auger for breaking up compacted feedwithin said housing.
 13. Apparatus as set forth in claim 12 wherein saidholding means comprises at least one member positioned within saidhousing above the level of said conveyor so as to cooperate with saidball maintaining said ball in position to be engaged by said auger.